Bloody cardboard, trash bags, plastic wrap, and shredded duct tape surrounded combatants in Lake Winona on Saturday as the fighters threw themselves at each other in a brutal game of capture the flag. The painted pirates fought for 30 minutes before Simpson retrieved Galloway and Niedfeldt’s banner.
The naval battle, hosted by Cravats and Bluestockings, returned this year after being cancelled in 2013 due to renovations in the Slayton Arboretum. Associate Dean of Men Jeffery Rogers explained that the new area cleared out in Lake Winona, a small bay near Barber Drive, made the event possible this year.
Students came throughout the week to clean up the lake in preparation for the battle.
“We’ve been out here clearing lily pads,” Galloway senior Colton Gilbert said.
The competition was a reenactment of the Battle of Trafalgar. Junior Josiah Lippincott read a brief history of the event while laying down the rules for the students. Trafalgar was a naval engagement that pitted the British against the French and Spanish. The British won, but lost their leader, Admiral Horatio Nelson.
Hillsdale’s version of the struggle featured slightly different vessels and rules of engagement. Simpson took the role of the British, Galloway was Spain, and Niedfeldt became France. Students were only permitted to use cardboard, duct tape, and plastic to build watercraft.To capture the opponents’ flags, a participant had to be on a boat. Sinking all of the enemy’s ships would also secure victory.
Galloway and Niedfeldt took the water first, aided by a small battalion from the Suites.
“We will take the fight to them,” Galloway’s Head Resident Assistant senior Antoni Germano, shouted.
The Spanish fleet was composed of thick cardboard boxes with tubes attached to the bottoms or sides as pontoons. Wrapped in plastic wrap, these appeared to be the most structurally sound ships, when compared to Simpson’s cardboard “taco” and trash-bag-covered boxes.
The French from Niedfeldt, wielding baguettes and French toast, were the first to reach Simpson’s flag. Led by senior Head RA Evan Gensler, they fell upon the Simpson defense.
Senior Connor Gleason organized Simpson’s shore defense, bellowing, “Blood makes the grass grow,” and receiving the deafening response, “Kill, kill, kill.”
Led by senior Head RAs Matt O’Sullivan and Andy Reuss, Simpson charged into the water to face Galloway.
The Spanish tore through Simpson’s ships quickly, punching holes in plastic wrap and tearing cardboard and duct tape apart. Opponents grappled with each other in the waist-high water, careful not to trip on submerged tree branches and shredded lily pads. Falling beneath the surface could result in defeat and a mud-caked face.
Simpson fighters attempted to steal Galloway boats to recover from losses, concentrating the fight in front of the Spanish-French flag. Throws, chokeholds, Spartan kicks, and pond scum facial rubs replaced their homemade swords in the close-quarters combat.
“You want to be hitting people with things,” Simpson senior Wes Wright said.
He managed to get within a few feet of the other team’s flag, but freshman Sam Phillips floated through the chaos and retrieved it first.
Raising their war trophies of masks and swords high, the men of Simpson roared in approval as senior Casey McKee, dressed as Poseidon, trumpeted their victory on his conch shell.
Two men from Simpson received minor injuries that sent them to the emergency room, but no one was seriously harmed. Both sides came together afterwards to clean up the lake and remove the boat debris.
